Who’s Paul Boag?
Wow. That is deep :-) I am a father, a husband, a christian and somewhere down the list a guy who loves the web.
I wouldn’t describe myself as a web designer anymore (although I would have been in the past). I am somebody who helps and advises others on how to get the most out of the web.
Do you have a Brand?
Yes I guess it is a brand although I do not think of it that way. Boagworld started as my personal website but it has grown since those early days. I think i would prefer to call it a community rather than a brand.
How do you choose the idea and the colors in any new project?
I get inspiration from all kinds of places. I can be inspired by other sites, by nature, architecture, posters, you name it. My final choices are largely influenced by the character of the origination I am designing for. I always ask clients about the character of their company. If their company was a person, who would it be? That is a good guide that influences design decisions.
What does your typical day look like?
That is a really hard one to answer. My days vary so much. Some days I work from home, others I work with my colleagues in our offices. Some days are spent writing articles, preparing talks or recording the podcast while other days are spent working on project work.
Most days begin with reading RSS feeds, answering emails and reviewing tasks. The rest of the day is then spent working through my task list. Its not exactly glamorous.
What are the tools you couldn’t live without?
Omnifocus. I am a complete fan of getting things done by David Allen and Omnifocus is the ultimate task organiser. It lets me feel in control of my very chaotic life.
The other vital tool is my iPhone. It is hard to imagine the world before it. It means I don’t feel tied to my desk anymore and that is very liberating.
Obviously I also use a lot of web design tools like Coda, Photoshop and Balsamiq (for wireframing). However, these tools tend to change overtime and it makes little difference to me whether I am coding in Coda or in Notepad.
What do you do in your free time?
My biggest commitment is running our local church youth group for 13 to 18 year olds. Its a lot of fun but very hard work. Teenagers like variety and so you are always looking hard to find new ways to entertain them. That said it is very rewarding and I wouldn’t stop it for anything.
Other than that is is all about the family. I love spending time with James (my 7 year old son) and Catherine my wife.
Finally I read a lot and will watch a bit of TV when I can find time.
Current favorite apps?
Currently? That would have to be a plugin for Coda called Zen Coding. It allows you to write huge amounts of code very quickly. For example if you wanted to create a unordered list containing 5 items all of which have links you could simply write ul>li*5>a and the code will miraculously appear.
What OSs do you prefer?
I use the mac OS although I have to say I like Windows 7 a lot.
Small pic for your Wokrplace ?
Favorite: Colors, Font, Languages (PHP, Ruby), JS Framework ?
- Color: Grey – Depressing isn’t it
- Font: Helvetica Neue
- Language: PHP (although my web agency is .net)
- JS Framework: jQuery
The things or source that inspired you ?
Wow, I have been inspired by so many things. My dad is a big inspiration. He is a superb wildlife photographer with a great eye for composition. He is also an excellent public speaker.
On the web design side I have been massively inspired by Zeldman and Steve Krug.
However, if I am honest I am most inspired by the web itself. I grew up in a world without the web and I still have a sense of wonder at what is now possible and at the continued rate of change.
What’s do you prefer, the freelance work or the full time employee ?
I would not want to work as a freelancer on my own. I imagine it must be very isolating. However, equally I am convinced I am now totally unemployable. I could never work for somebody else. Running an agency as I do with 14 other people is the best of both worlds.
Your personnel projects and goals for 2010 ?
We built a product called
Getsignoff a couple of years ago and although it came out really well we failed to invest in it and so it stagnated. In 2010 I want to invest in that again and make sure it gets the success it deserves. You will be hearing a lot more about it over the coming year :-)
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